Every time there’s a mass shooting the Right Wing trolls take to the internet in droves to push their gun fetishes with slogans no longer than what can fit on a bumper sticker that are supposed to be irrefutable arguments against gun control, so here are their arguments and some simple counter arguments to make against them.

“I need my gun to protect me from the government.”

Saying this is essentially saying that you’re willing to go on a shooting spree if an election doesn’t go your way. You are not the sort of person who should be trusted with a sharp pencil, much less a semi-automatic weapon. You can double down on this when they start saying they need their gun to protect against the government coming to take away their guns; circular logic at its finest.

“Guns are the only protection against government tyranny!”

Really? Is that why the governments of Canada, the UK, Germany, France, Sweden, Denmark, India, Australia, Japan, etc… virtually every industrialized nation on earth are run by ruthless dictators who rule with an iron fist? Oh, they’re not? Then shut up.

“Banning guns doesn’t do any good. Look at drugs. People will still get them.”

Oh they will? See every other nation on earth for a example of how gun control has worked. America is the only nation that deals with massive gun violence and mass shootings on a regular basis.

“Cars kill people. Should we ban cars!?”

Good point. And look what we do with cars. People have to have licenses, registration, pass both written and practical tests, renew their registration annually, and have liability insurance for the damage cars may do.

“The 2nd Amendment guarantees my right to bear arms.”

It does not specify what kind of arms, however. Why not allow you to own nuclear arms? Or at the very least rocket launchers and machine guns? Because if you need an AR-15 then why don’t you need a rocket launcher? Especially if your argument is that you need to take on the government? But that’s absurd, as is the need for a semi-automatic rifle that has the ability to use high-capacity magazines.

“I need it for hunting.”

My dad calls ARs “Barbie guns” because they’re all for show. No decent hunter hunts with an AR-15. If you want to track a wounded deer over a half mile then be my guest, but if you’re serious about hunting you should be using a .270 or bigger because you want to knock the animal down and not have it suffer for an hour while it bleeds out. You also don’t need to fire 30 rounds at it unless… well… you shouldn’t be hunting if you do.

“Cain killed Abel with a rock. People will find a way!”

Tell you what, when someone walks into a crowded theater and kills 28 people with a rock then we’ll talk about rock control. Until then, shut up.

“It’s a mental health problem, not a gun problem.”

Every nation on earth has mentally ill people. I guarantee China has more than we do. Do you think that America is special because we somehow have a particularly homicidal population, or is it that our homicidal maniacs can go down to the corner store and pick up a semi-automatic weapon and 3,000 rounds of ammo and take out their frustration on the nearest class of middle-schoolers?

“Only a good guy with a gun can stop a bad guy with a gun.”

How many shootings have been stopped by good guys with guns? And before we start talking about arming everyone, let’s imagine the chaos of dozens of armed people walking around after shots have been fired, not knowing who the shooter is, each looking at one another with guns drawn. The potential for more casualties skyrockets. Having done my share of shoot-houses, I can tell you that it’s chaotic enough when you’re all wearing the same damn uniform. Now imagine a bunch of armed strangers trying to instantly guess who the bad guy with a gun is. Yeah. Idiotic. And that’s before the cops show up.

“If we take away all the guns then only the bad guys will have guns.”

First of all, refer back to my previous points about EVERY other industrialized nation in the world to see that this is just not true. Secondly, nobody is talking about taking away all the guns. We’re talking about taking away guns that serve no other purpose but to cause massive human casualties and imposing licensing, background checks, and other measures to mitigate harm done. We’re talking about denying guns to people on the terrorist watchlist (and yes, white supremacist organizations should be on that watchlist) and those with violent criminal backgrounds, including domestic abusers.

“If you deny guns to people on the terrorist watchlist, won’t they know they’re on the watchlist then?”

Couldn’t they just try to get on a plane and find out that way? This way you’re at least preventing them from buying a gun.

You have to realize that the majority of gun arguments stem from the fact that someone just really likes guns. They’ll never be able to come up with a reasonable, cogent argument for why they need most of them; it’s just what they like. It’s a hobby. They sit around and fantasize about what they’d do if someone broke into their house. And when we have massive loss of life and start talking about tighter restrictions on firearms, they feel their hobby is threatened, so they lash out. The problem is that their arguments have no merit and it’s time to put them to bed as they’re getting tired and old and their hobby doesn’t supersede the need for safe schools, theaters, concerts, nightclubs, churches, malls, shopping centers, and virtually every other public space in America.

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Meet Gabe

Gabe is a retired Army Major with deployments to both Iraq and Afghanistan. He was injured in combat and now wants to continue to serve his country and community by representing Colorado’s 5th House District as a Democrat. He lives in the Valverde neighborhood and has a lovely wife, Mary Katherine and a goofy dog, Lucy.